Retro Remix: Round 25

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By Lucas M. Thomas

While the world debates the intricacies of the Wii's controls and complains non-stop about the lack of technical advantage the system may have compared to its competitors, IGN would like to take the necessary time to focus on a huge advantage the Wii holds during this next generation of gaming. Nintendo has been a powerhouse of development for over 20 years, starting in the early '80s with the Famicom and NES, respectively. Nintendo has not only chosen to focus on intriguing gameplay this time around, but also on those roots that were set up over two decades ago. Reggie and company have boasted Wii to include the most launch titles in history with Wii supporting not only GameCube, but N64, SNES, Genesis, TurboGrafx-16 and the original NES games in Nintendo's new download service. For that reason, we here at IGN believe a rebirth of retro gaming is in order, and we present to you Retro Remix.

Each edition of Retro Remix will offer a title from one of the systems, including information on that game as well as a ranking that depicts whether or not you can expect to see it as part of the Wii's Virtual Console. The idea here isn't to feature all 4,000 Mario titles or take a look at every first-party Nintendo product that is sure to grace the system at launch. This is a chance for gamers to get in touch with the unsung legends that may have been forgotten over the years.

Nintendo is listening.

To the fans, to the players. To the dedicated communities. Sometimes it's obvious, when the company actively solicits consumer feedback on issues like localizing the Tingle RPG. Sometimes it's not, like the surprise appearance of Pit as a playable fighter in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. But in recent years, the Big N's had open ears. And now more than ever, there's an opportunity to make your voice heard.

The Virtual Console - a direct pipeline to the top. (Like those customer evaluation cards at Wendy's, but even better.) Download a classic game to your Wii machine and the record of your purchase will be recorded and registered. Yes, Nintendo is offering a treasure trove of retro gaming goodness for gamers through the VC - but they're offering themselves a valuable source of market research at the same time.

Nintendo is listening, and the games you select are the sound.

There's at least one religiously dedicated collective of hardcore fans who will be taking advantage of this reality. They pride themselves on their persistence, their ambition, and their willingness to eat hamburgers out of trash cans. They are the EarthBound fans.

EarthBound is a series that's been pushed around. Shoved aside. Trampled on. It had a solid release on the SNES in 1994, but even then it wasn't the original. It was a localization of Japan's Mother 2 - Mother 1, from the previous 8-bit generation, had been skipped over.

The 16-bit EarthBound gained a cult following - its popularity small, but loyal. The fans eagerly awaited a follow-up, and one was announced for the Nintendo 64. It was to have become EarthBound 64 in the States - but the project was scrapped.

Ness, the game's main character, showed up to fight in Super Smash Bros. and its sequel, giving the EB following hope for the future - but again, their dreams would be dashed. Mother 1 + 2, a GBA compilation cartridge, debuted in Japan and was not picked up for an American release. Mother 3, the long-awaited true sequel that fans have been waiting over a decade to play - also not coming to the US.

EarthBound is a series with fans who've been pushed around. Shoved aside. Trampled on. But now, Nintendo is listening.

There's a course of action to take to insure that EarthBound gets noticed once again, and that's downloading the 16-bit installment. Over and over again. By as many people as possible. The campaign to get you and your friends to give the quirky, crazy, cult-fanatical EarthBound experience a try will be kicking into high gear soon, driven by the members of communities like Starmen.net. They'll ask you to give your dollars in support of the cause. In exchange, you'll get a game unlike any you've ever played before.

Ness is a brave young man. With a bat. And psychic powers. When a strange meteorite crash-lands in his hometown, he's the one chosen to go on an epic quest to save the planet from an alien invasion. It's an RPG adventure in a modern setting - no dragons, swords and summoning Ifrit. Here it's frying pans, pizza deliveries and UFOs.

The game world is colorful and imaginative - a Japanese developer's interpretation of life in America. Ness journeys through small towns, big cities, deserts and snowscapes, picking up friends along the way. Paula is his first companion, a cookware-wielding woman warrior with an attitude and a fashionable handbag. Jeff comes next, filling the role of techno-savvy nerd/dweeb/geek with his arsenal of custom-built ray guns. Poo, the final friend, is a reclusive and spiritual martial artist who prefers to let his fists do the talking.

Together the gang fights against the most ridiculous assortment of enemies ever collected. You've got standards like bats, snakes, robots. But then there are the hippies. The living taxi cabs. The walking, sentient pieces of hangman's rope. Wackiness abounds in EarthBound, and you'll have a blast playing it - but only if it's made available. Begging the question&#Array;

Will it make the cut? After all the hardships and disappointments endured by EarthBound fans over the years, it actually wouldn't surprise me if Nintendo didn't even make the one domestically-released franchise game available again. But breathe easy, Starmen and Starwomen. This one's a lock.

EarthBound, though not seen in any product release stateside for 12 years, is still active and controlled by Nintendo. Localizations take time and effort, and NOA hasn't wanted to put in either for the two GBA cartridges released in the series in recent years. But here is a complete, catalogued title. It's no effort at all to give the fans this one, at the very least.

Expect to see EarthBound on the SNES Virtual Console roster. And expect it to be one of the most-downloaded games on offer. The fans will see to that - hoping, wishing, praying in front of Giygas nine times over that Nintendo will be listening, and that the series will be acknowledged once again.

Virtual Console Support Probability: Very High

This installment of Retro Remix was requested by IGN users chalka52, Silentheart, kntstar, CheapShot45 and Hiro0015. If you'd like to request a classic game to appear in a future installment, or if you'd like to give feedback about the feature, head over to Lucas's blog and leave a comment.